The crew over at Southern Fried Science are mixing art and science with “a year-long series exploring Herman Melville’s classic novel, Moby Dick, from the perspective of modern marine scientists.” More from their website:

Each chapter will be posted with a brief summary, in verse and discussion will take place in the comment thread. Generally, new chapters will be posted every Tuesday and Thursday, with some Sundays. I’m reading from the Oxford World’s Classic edition of Moby Dick, but any unabridged copy will do. The websitePower Moby Dick hosts a complete, unabridged, and fully annotated version online. We will keep a running list of the posts made or this project here so that they are easy to find.

Everyone is welcome to read along and encouraged to participate in the discussion.

Hmmm…two things I was never very good at in high school: (1) finishing Moby-Dick and (2) anything science related. But I’m a different person today. :) So I’m considering this my own personal Nantucket sleigh ride of art and science education. Hop aboard!

From the same people who brought us Titanic II (huh?), on November 30, coming straight to your DVD player, Herman Melville‘s classic has been updated: 2010 Moby Dick. I guess the original (and all previous versions) were not good enough; nothing a few helicopters and machine guns can’t fix thankfully.

Last month I took the kids to New Bedford Open Studios and one of the highlights was meeting sculptor Erik Durant and seeing his giant squid which was under construction for the New Bedford Whaling Museum’s outdoor sculpture show which opened last week. Durant’s studio is always a real hit with the kids if for no other reason than his giant ear sculpture with companion Q-tip; Joy especially loves it.

The sculpture show is titled “”In the Unequal Cross-Lights” — Contemporary Sculptors Respond to the Whaling Museum Collections” and the title is derived from Moby-Dick. From David Boyce’s article in the New Bedford Standard Times:

The project’s title is taken from “Moby-Dick,” referring to Ishmael’s visit to the Spouter-Inn, where in the “unequal cross-lights” he sees a painting on the wall that confounds him. Melville writes that this artwork requires “careful inquiry,” “earnest contemplation,” and “repeated ponderings.” In other words, much like looking at some contemporary art work, one must allow it time to divulge its intentions, its message, its meaning, or merely its composition.